Aibu to expect school teachers to use head lice treatment?

[Everywhereilookaround]

We've got them AGAIN, itchy nasty little blighters. Got my shampoo ready to use this morning, before DS goes back to school Monday.

It's a common occurrence, we've had them repeatedly over last year at school, as have other families.

I know it's just one of those things, but what's irking me is that a Friend told me DS's teacher publically refuses to use treatment on herself or her own kids, because...toxins... chemicals.... environment....etc.

So instead she combs them out weekly with nit comb and tea tree rince.

So she doesn't get rid of them, just reduces their number every week.

I've seen her itching, (right now we all are!)

I respect that we all have a right to lead our own lives our way...but why must we all suffer for it?!!

If the teacher won't take the treatment, and keeps reinfecting us, there's just no hope.

Or AIBU to feel annoyed by this?

Yabu - the comb method has been known to be better for years. 20 years ago head licecwere becoming resistant to chemical shampoos.
You get a great leave in tea tree oil based conditioner that can help stop lice. Lits of conditioner comb through, every night or couple of nights,you get rid of lice doing this and doing it every few nights for 2-3 weeks gets rid of the newly hatched lice before they can lay more eggs.
As a teacher i would expect more sympathy for tge poor teacher, who due to parents not treating lice properly is having tp treat daily to stay free(ish).

The Headrin ‘smother’ treatment works. The lice asphyxiate. Then use the Nitty Gritty.

The lice don’t build up a resistance to this type of treatment because it’s not a pesticide.

Top tip - when rinsing off, apply shampoo first before you wet the hair.

I still remember nits from school. My mum spent an hour a night combing because she didn't like chemicals. I did have nits, but only during school hours.

Bet she is fed up too.

The chemist will tell you that the lice are getting resistant to the chemicals and you shouldn't use the same brand every time but switch around if using them. We had a big problem with a class which have thankfully moved on.
I have allergies so I use natural method of combing every two days using a thick conditioner then rinse with tea tree. I have successfully used this method twice on myself and I religiously conditioned and combed DD hair every Sunday night. She only had them once thankfully as her hair was waist length ringlets. Since then the Nitty Gritty hair comb has comb out and it is brilliant. I still check mine now and then as I work throughout the school and colleagues don't always remember to remind you😲

"I'm NOT saying the teacher is the source"

Actually you did say that in your OP. .

I’ve used chemical treatments and the nutty gritty + conditioner methods on DC. Nutty Girtty and conditioner work far better if you do it properly and the chemical stuff is a waist of time.

“Scratching your head doesn't mean you have nits.“

And NOT scratching does not mean you haven’t got nits- many people don’t itch.

Nits very quickly become immune to chemicals. Hedrin is very effective if used properly. But combing every 3 days with loads of conditioner for 45 minutes is the only way to get rid of them. And they will come back- there’s no way to repel them.

I’d imagine that head lice, colds and stomach bugs are a fairly regular occurrence for someone that works closely with children therefore prevention would seem to be the most sensible option.

Who wants to be regularly using chemicals when you could keep the problem at bay with a gentler, preventative treatment?

You need to comb for 21 days using the cycle in the picture below to be truely rid. Once a week is not enough!

www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/theprogram.html

Anyone else thinking that it's probably the OPs child who is the problem?
If you are chemically treating every week but they keep coming back it's because YOU are not getting rid of the eggs and they are hatching out. Bits are chemically resistant now. As loads of pp have said you need to COMB every 2-3 days for about 2 weeks to get rid. And then your child will stop ingesting everyone else.
I wonder if the teacher had this conversation about combing not chemicals with your mutual friend in the hope it would get back to you....

At both my kids (non-uk) schools they still have a nit nurse. Kids are checked, and if they have nits they have to stay off until the infestation is gone. Worms the same (I had to provide proof my DS had been tested and was clear)

No-one's mean about it, it's just a thing so that the kids aren't continuously re-infecting each other, just like any other tranmissable issue - sickness or whatever.

I remember having nits when I was a child, and it was uncomfortable, and time consuming - I prefer that my kids are able to concentrate at school, and that nits are rare rather than how it sounds in some schools where there's just continuous infestations going around, and the parents and children are just on an endless loop of scratching and treating!

Infesting not ingesting

Thus thread should have a warning!!!!! I’ve not been anywhere near a flipping nit but after reading this thread I can’t stop scratching my head 🤣

I don't believe you're a teacher and if you are I'd be more concerned about your SPG, than about another teacher's choice of nit treatment. Rince, loose her job.... Hmmmm.

Chemicals don’t work. Unless everyone is treating on the same day, then your child has the potential to catch more on Monday making your efforts today futile.

Additionally the chemical ones work in the process of two week cycles as they usually do not get all of the eggs and that is why most tell you to reapply twice.

You can get rid of what is in the hair using conditioner and. Bitty comb and then once they are gone, if you spritz tea tree oil spray in the hair of a morning, you should have no more problems with them. Only my eldest has ever had nots. After following this procedure my other 4 have never caught them in what is a very infected school.

I am interested to know why children all seem to have head lice these days. When I was at school, nobody had this problem.

If it is as you say going round and round could you and other parents organise something eg all comb/treat the same day? Or even have a 'nit party' - get the kids together, do the treatment/combing, swap tips, give the kids a cake and repeat in a week.

“Kids are checked, and if they have nits they have to stay off until the infestation is gone“

So they are immediatly sent home for a week every time a nit is spotted? How does that work?

Hedrin etc are not “chemicals/pesticides”. They’re silicon - so the same as conditioner, but, in my experience, more effective. We tried the conditioner on DD2, removed about 5 lice, tried again with Hedrin and got rid of hundreds.

Hedrin didnt work for my dc.
I combed every single day during the period in which my ds was in a class with a known nit carrier.
Your teacher has the right idea. Just make sure you and everyone else in the class is checking their children every day and combing every day if required. No half measures.

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here. I've tried using a nitty gritty comb with conditioner on myself and the children and it just reduced them it didn't get rid of them. Also if you or one of your children has long fine hair using the metal combs that often completely ruins your hair.

I use Hedrin. Leave it on for the recommended time, comb through with nit comb, wash out - job done.

We've had a handful of outbreaks over the years (children are 10 and 12 now) but whenever I've treated them the blighters have gone and it's been months or years before they've caught them again.

Whatever works for you is fine. The main problem is when people don't treat their children at all.

and my sister then told her the way to get rid with cheap conditioner

Try that with afro hair.

Nits are a huge issue for us. Both my youngest boys have been infested this year for the first time. They are very close and I suspect its the older one giving to the younger one.

They have afro hair. The older one's is slightly easier to comb, the young one has full on afro hair and it cannot be combed no matter how much cheap conditioner you put in it.

Its costing me a lot of money to treat them every few weeks. About thirty quid a time because they have long hair.

I tie the older one's hair back the younger one's hair goes up rather than down.

I am bloody sick of it. I have never seen an advert/info for head lice featuring black or mixed race children. I reckon its because the manufacturers know its an issue but don't know how to to address it so they just sort of ignore it.

Full disclosure. I am a teacher as well as mother of four. I teach four to six year olds, the cuddly ones. I have long hair. I will cut it off if I ever get nits again as it's such a pain to treat one's own hair. Fortunately this has only happened once in twenty years. The only really effective treatment I ever found is the cheap shampoo and combing through way, though I admit the lavender oil smells nice. When I spot them in class, I inform the parents of the child with nits directly, and chase up till I see the nits gone, and I inform - discretely - all of the class parents to be vigilant. I happen to be scratching my head now, not because I have nits, but because all this talk of nits makes me want to scratch my head. Please be very careful about you treat your child's hardworking teacher towards the end of another long school year..... :)

When I was at school, nobody had this problem

When did you go to school?

I was at primary in the 70s and had kids in primary/worked in primary in the 90s and 00's and it was always a problem..